Endangered historic house in Jamestown needs a new owner

Update: The house was sold for $172,000 on December 14, 2017.

The William G. Wiley House at 4909 Guilford College Road in Jamestown is a classic example of a mail-order house, dating back to 1908.  It needs a buyer soon or it will be torn down.

The house was bought from Radford American Homes, a mail-order company based in Illinois. The cost was $1,800, plus $1 for the catalog and $5 for the plans. The plans showed a one-and-a-half story clapboard house with a sweeping pitched cross-gable roof, a dormer window, wrap-around porch with turned posts, and a south-facing bay window. An elaborate lightning grounding system was added around 1913, and pressed metal shingles were added around 1918.

The grounds include many outbuildings, including a smokehouse, garage, shop, horse barn and shed, and two privies. There also is a well house with basement potato cellar.

The well-preserved site maintains an important link to early 20th century rural life in Guilford County, and it illustrates the influence of national catalog and building supply companies. Guilford County has designated it as a landmark property in 1993. That status confers a property tax credit of up to 50 percent.

For more information about buying the Wiley House, contact Benjamin Briggs of Preservation Greensboro, 336-272-5003.  h/t to Benjamin for providing the information on the house.